Foundry has launched its latest version of Nuke, 11.2, with upgraded UI features and performance capabilities, and a new API for deep compositing that can increase the speed of script processing.
Here’s Foundry’s list of the key features in the update.
New API for deep compositing
Foundry says it has delivered 1.5x faster processing with a new API for deep compositing which manages memory efficiently. Larger scripts have scope for even faster processing speeds. Nuke 11.2 also includes updates to the DeepExpression node and the ability to use Nuke’s metadata nodes within a deep stream.
Faster node and user parameter creation
In this instalment, the Nuke Tab menu and UI for creating user knobs have been changed to improve user experience for some of the most common tasks: adding nodes and creating Gizmos.
The updated Tab menu allows artists to find nodes using partial words, set ‘favourite’ nodes and organise them via a weighting system.
A new UI allows user knobs to be linked between nodes by dragging and dropping. Artists can add, rearrange or remove user parameters using the same interface. This replaces the drop-down menus for picking user knobs, speeding up the setup of Live Groups and Gizmos and reducing the average number of clicks required from seven to three.
Smart Vector live output and mask input
Foundry says the Smart Vector toolset is now faster to use and more effective in shots with occluding objects. Smart Vector and Vector Distort have been optimised for the GPU, allowing users to generate Smart Vectors on the fly and preview the result without needing to pre-render the vectors.
A new mask input allows artists to identify areas of motion to ignore when generating the Smart Vectors and warping the paint or texture. As a result, the Smart Vector toolset can now be used on shots with occluding objects with less laborious manual clean-up, speeding up the use of the toolset in more complex cases.
Upgrades for Nuke Studio
Nuke Studio now has an updated project panel UI, providing the artist with new visual controls for managing and organising complex projects. For quick visual reference, artists can assign colours to items in the project bin and the timeline, based on file type and other parameters accessible via the UI and python API.
Artists can also set the poster frame for single or multiple clips in the bin or from the viewer. These improvements will help artists to visually distinguish between different file types more easily.
Nuke 11.2 brings improved sorting and searching features to Nuke Studio, allowing artists to arrange project bins in custom orders. Artists can also search through project items using multiple keyword and file metadata with keywords, or through all metadata.
Christy Anzelmo, Senior Commercial Product Manager at Foundry, said: “With Nuke 11.2, we’ve listened to our customers and built on the features introduced in previous Nuke 11 releases. Our focus has been on improving artists’ day-to-day experience and speeding up time-intensive tasks like deep compositing. This release will help teams tackle complex VFX work faster.”
Nuke 11.2 goes live today and will be available to buy on Foundry’s website and via its resellers.
Jon Creamer
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